Top Ten Big Events that Were Overshadowed by Another

1. Scientists Figuring Out Molecular Teleportation Was Overshadowed by the Royal Baby

   

   Molecular teleportation - yes, teleportation! It was a groundbreaking achievement, but barely anyone paid attention because the royal baby was born.

   I mean, yes, it's important that a royal baby was born, but molecular teleportation is an incredible discovery! Or is it just me?

   I heard about most of the other things on this list, but I never heard of this. What a shame...

   This is among the reasons why I think Britain should become a republic.

2. Rwanda Genocide Was Overshadowed By The OJ Simpson Trial

   

   Rwanda is officially known as the Republic of Rwanda. It is a sovereign state in Central and East Africa. It is one of the smallest countries on the African mainland.

   I feel like it was intentional. Maybe OJ Simpson wasn't as big of a deal, but the media popularized it to distract people from realizing what was happening in Rwanda.

   In most of these cases, the more significant event overshadows the less important one. However, the Rwandan Genocide was a much bigger event than the OJ Simpson trial.

   800,000 Tutsis were brutally murdered by the Rwandan government, but the O.J. Simpson trial received more media coverage, leaving the genocide largely unnoticed.

3. Farrah Fawcett's Death Overshadowed By Michael Jackson's Death

   

   Mary Farrah Leni Fawcett (February 2, 1947 - June 25, 2009) was an American actress and artist. She gained international fame after posing for a red swimsuit poster, which became the best-selling pin-up poster in history. Fawcett also starred as private investigator Jill Munroe during the first season... read more

   Farrah Fawcett was an actress in shows like Charlie's Angels and movies like Logan's Run and Saturn 3. However, she died on the same day as Michael Jackson, which completely overshadowed her passing.

4. Electric Traffic Lights Introduced Were Overshadowed By Germany Invading Belgium

   

   Germany was formally united in 1871 under the initiative of Bismarck, with King Wilhelm of Prussia as emperor. The previous Holy Roman Empire, essentially a continuation of the empire of Charlemagne (Karl der Große), was dissolved in 1806.... read more

   Unlike many other examples on the list, electric traffic lights eventually became widespread. Today, traditional traffic lights are mostly seen in places like museums or Cracker Barrel restaurants.

5. Man Rowing Across The Ocean Was Overshadowed By A Man Walking On The Moon

   

   John Fairfax was the first man ever to row solo across the ocean. It was a huge accomplishment, but the moon landing completely overshadowed it.

   That doesn't really matter compared to a moon landing.

   Because Earhart couldn't fly over, Fairfax decided to row across instead.

6. Roger Moore's Death Was Overshadowed By Manchester Bombing At Ariana Grande's Concert

   

   Sir Roger George Moore KBE (1927-2017) was an English actor. He portrayed James Bond in seven feature films between 1973 and 1985, including Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Moonraker. Before his Bond role, Moore appeared in various television dramas such as Ivanhoe, The Alaskans, and Maverick... read more

   Oh come on! Why are celebrities more important than the lives of innocent children? I don't get people these days!

   Roger Moore played James Bond from 1973 to 1985 and died, sadly, a day after the bombing.

7. OJ Simpson Was Let Out Of Prison Was Overshadowed By Chester Bennington's Death

   

   Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 to April 10, 2024), nicknamed "The Juice," was an American football running back, broadcaster, actor, advertising spokesman, and convicted felon. Once a popular figure with the U.S. public, he is best known for being tried for the murders of his former wife, Nicole... read more

   Really? People were all over Twitter, tweeting their condolences to the late Linkin Park singer and posting tributes.

   Technically, OJ Simpson is on parole for five years, but that was still a big event. However, when Chester Bennington passed away, no one really paid attention to OJ being released.

8. Boys Life Saved Overshadowed by the Death of a Gorilla

   Have we really reached a point where a human boy is considered less important than a gorilla? Gorillas die all the time, and it barely gets noticed, but when this one was killed, everyone acted like it was the end of the world. It's just sad.

   If I owned both a dog and a son and they were in danger, I would definitely choose my son over my dog. It would be difficult and saddening, but sometimes you have to sacrifice your pet to save your only child. In this case, Harambe's situation fits perfectly with this dilemma.

9. Groucho Marx's Death Overshadowed By Elvis Presley's Death

   

   Julius Henry Marx (October 2, 1890 - August 19, 1977), known professionally as Groucho Marx, was an American comedian, film and television star. He was known as a master of quick wit and is widely considered one of the best comedians of the modern era. His rapid-fire, often impromptu delivery of innuendo-laden... read more

   You have probably never heard of Groucho Marx, but back in the day, he was a huge television star. However, Elvis Presley died three days earlier, so almost nobody noticed Groucho's death.

10. The War On Waste Was Overshadowed By The 9/11 Terror Attacks

    

    The War on Waste highlighted the loss of $2.3 trillion by the U.S., but it was completely overshadowed by the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The Newcomers
11. ?

    The Death of DreamDoll Brii was Overshadowed by the Death of Bonnie Tyler

    Social media influencer DreamDoll Brii didn't even leave a legacy as big as Bonnie Tyler's.

    Though DreamDoll Brii was shot to death at a younger age, Bonnie Tyler's death had a major impact on the world.

    They both died only July 8.

    R.I.P. to these people.

12. ?

    The Death of Rob Base Was Overshadowed by the Death of Kyle Busch

    Both were legends, but the death of Kyle Busch shocked the world and he was even younger than Rob Base.

The Contenders

13. Mother Teresa's Death Was Overshadowed by Princess Diana's Death

    

    Mother Teresa's death should have been broadcasted more prominently over Diana's death.

    Mother Teresa passed away five days after Princess Diana's death, when the attention on Princess Diana was still massive. As a result, Mother Teresa's death received less media coverage.

14. The Acknowledgement of Kim Jong Un as the Supreme Leader of North Korea Was Overshadowed by Katy Perry's Divorce from Russell Brand

    This one is just sad. Although Katy Perry is great, her personal life doesn't sound too different from most others.

15. Doctor Who's First Airing Overshadowed by JFK's Assassination

    I can definitely understand this. Really, if your President (if you live in the U.S.) died and a show started airing at the same time, you'd probably care more about the President's death than the show. I understand that including this event on the list doesn't mean you think Doctor Who starting was more important than JFK's death, though.

    According to TV Tropes, this was also a very important day in Detroit Lions history.

16. John McCain's Death Overshadowed by Logan Paul vs KSI Boxing Match

    Boxing sucks. How could a match overshadow someone's death?

17. The Blueprint by Jay Z Was Released Overshadowed by the 9/11 Attacks

    Doesn't matter. The Blueprint is still remembered.

18. Release of Toy Story 3 overshadowed by Spain v Holland World Cup final

    I think Toy Story 3 was a big hit, but I agree the World Cup final was bigger than the movie at that time.

    The World Cup is more important than anything Disney makes.

    Then how did it still do so well at the box office?

19. James Lipton, Max Von Sydow, Michael Roux, Honsi Mubarak and Javier Perez DeCuller deaths all overshadowed by Covid-19 related coverage

    I was thinking of adding the 2020 bushfires being overshadowed, but the fires were mostly under control by the time COVID gained traction.

20. The 9/11 Terror Attacks Were Overshadowed by the Coronavirus Pandemic

21. The Colorado Springs Nightclub Shooting Was Overshadowed by the Death of Jason David Frank

    It's crazy how sometimes one person's death overshadows a tragedy involving multiple people. Usually, such events overshadow the death of one individual, but in this case, it was the unexpected death of one of the Power Rangers' actors - Jason David Frank, known for playing Tommy Oliver, the White Ranger. He was arguably the franchise's best actor.

    However, we still shouldn't ignore the fact that the shooting took multiple lives - five people died, and 25 others were injured. Gun violence shouldn't be ignored. R.I.P. to them all.

22. Chandra Levy's Disappearance Overshadowed by the 9/11 Attacks

    The search for Chandra Levy, who at the time was still believed to be alive, had been dominating the news. Then 9/11 happened, and she was pretty much forgotten until her remains were found a year later.

23. Sean Connery’s Death Was Overshadowed by Alex Trebek’s Death

    They were both legends. One taught us how to spy, and the other taught us how to answer.

    We'll never forget Sean Connery, the original actor for James Bond, but we'll also never forget Alex Trebek, the best game show host, known for hosting Jeopardy! Trebek was over 80, while Connery made it to 90. Sadly, Trebek lost his battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2020. He was the Jeopardy! G.O.A.T. R.I.P.

24. The Death of Shinzō Abe Was Overshadowed by the Death of Technoblade

25. Peter O'Toole's death overshadowed by Paul Walker's death

    

    Wait, what? Peter O'Toole's dead? I didn't even know that! Guess that shows how overshadowed it was. It's a shame, because he had a really good career as an actor.

    By the way, to everyone complaining about this list: It's not saying that the event that overshadowed the other wasn't a big deal. This is just a list of events that nobody paid attention to because other events just happened to be going on that received more focus. Usually, both events are equally important to history, but one event is often more focused on than the other.

26. 2018 Winter Olympics Overshadowed by Parkland School Shooting

    I didn't care about the shooting, in my opinion. I just wanted to watch the Olympics.

27. The Atlanta Spa Shootings Were Overshadowed by the Colorado Supermarket Shooting

    I may be biased because I live in Georgia, but I heard more about the spa shootings than the market shooting.